Food Guru Karen is compiling a list of brands of dog foods that we are feeding. If you would like to share your brand with us, we will include it on the list—either dry or raw food. You can add it here, or send an email to me. The list will include interesting facts about what we are feeding our furry friends. CarsinGSD@gmail.com
The final list will be available on the blog.
Include your brand of dog treats too!
I told Karen that I fed Gravy Train and Milk Bones and she fainted. 😉
I use a couple for treats:
Nathan’s all beef hotdog – we humans eat it too. 😉
Bravo Bonus Bites Freeze dried chicken liver
Kibble- I leave a bowl of kibble by his water bowl on days when he is being super picky and refuses to eat raw just so he doesn’t starve (yep, I’m such a pushover).
I use a couple of brands:
Natural Balance Synergy
Blue Buffalo
I feed a raw prey diet. No brand, buy mostly from the grocery store or my butcher. Right now I have a freezer stocked with venison, quail, beef, turkey and chicken. I have a source for organic grain fed beef but it is expensive so we keep that as a treat. I supplement with salmon oil and my older boy Janni(8 yrs) also gets Super Fuel from K9-naturals to help with joints, etc. For treats, I use cut up cooked chicken, liver and cheese. Occassionally hot dogs. Sade’s chews of choice are remote controls and cell phones if they are within reach. I prefer she use the antlers and bully sticks I provide. Several times a week she gets frozen beef ribs but I watch and take away the bones when she has them cleaned of meat.
Does Sade have moments where she refuses to eat the raw food? Like clockwork Odin will refuse his food, doesn’t matter if it’s venison/beef/greentripe/ whatever is in his bowl. I’m not sure if it’s normal or not, I don’t ever remember my other dog refusing food except when he’s sick. On some days, I want to take him to the Vet just to make sure everything is okay, but then he starts eating again.
Odin is on raw prey diet as well.
I agree with Irene. Food being left down isn’t the best. If he picks at it during
the day, his stomach has to digest every time he eats.
I’d be worried if he didn’t eat for 3 days, but maybe he is on a “wolf” eating
schedule and not eating every day.
It could be he just isn’t hungry b/c he is eating raw food and getting the
nourishment he needs. Unfortunately, I have never had THAT type of dog!!!
But….always trust the dog’s nose!
Thanks so much, I feel so much better now. He was getting fed 3x a day, then started to refuse lunch, so we fed breakfast and dinner. When he started refusing breakfast, then we switched altogether to dinner only. He was doing so good being fed once a day and seems to be fine with it. There are days when if miss dinner, he’ll eat it at breakfast.
Whew! Okay, I’m going to stop being such a worry wart.
Thanks a million!!
lol, sorry. If it looks remotely edible, Sade will eat it. Right now she still gets three meals a day. Total is approximately a pound of food per day. I don’t believe in ever leaving food for them. I put it down and what isn’t eaten goes in the garbage or fridge until the next meal.
My first thought is that I would not leave food down for him between meals. He eats what you offer when you offer.
If he is a continual picky eater, I would first have a vet check just to be sure you aren’t missing something. Then if the vet thinks he is healthy, I would look at what and how much you are feeding. I don’t go by recommended amounts but by my dog’s shape. I want to see a waist and easily feel the ribs but I don’t want to see the ribs. If I think my dog looks too thin, I up the food a bit and if they look like they are caring too much weight I cut back. It is usually easy to find an average amount for each dog this way.
Also, look at what you are feeding. Feed the same meat for about 3 or 4 days and then switch to another. Keep a food diary and record the amount he eats and how quickly, etc. Then switch to another meat. Look for any patterns. If, for example he eats beef well but not chicken, then you have to decide if you want to honor his wishes and not feed chicken or take the attitude, you eat what is served.
I will share an interesting story. Many years ago I found what I thought was a great source for cheap meat. It was a butcher shop, human grade. Yet no matter what I did my dogs would not eat anything I fed them from that butcher. I figured their nose was better than mine and maybe they knew something I didn’t, so I never went back to that butcher.
Hope this helps.
Irene
I would listen to my dog too on that one. Maybe they did some side work for the mafia ….?
Yeah, she is in the right part of the country for that sort of thing…
I love your attitude. You are right—trust your dog.
I usually leave the food down for him for 5 minutes, he will smell it then walks away. A couple of times, I thought okay, he doesn’t want chicken today, so I gave him greentripe (greentripe.com), he does the same thing. So okay, he’s not hungry. But the next day, I give him the same chicken- he wolfs it down.
I’m not sure if it’s the heat or what. I have to try harder with eat it or you lose it attitude, but with that face *sigh*.
He is very healthy, can’t feel the ribs. I guess he’s just not hungry! Or the other culprit might be the 2 legged little boy who loves to share his food with his puppy. Hmmn
You can’t beat Ol’ Roy from Walmart!!
I just fainted…….AGAIN!!!!!
That is why Roman looks good. He eats Ol’ Roy!
Nuke primarily gets a mix of Wellness Core kibble and Nature’s Variety Instinct raw patties. Then I supplement with frozen chicken-apple sausages or other similar things for treats. Also the occasional bit of sweet potato. He also gets some raw chicken, duck, lamb, beef – depending on what I’m cooking that week. For super special occasion snacks he gets meaty bones from the butcher.
My boys eat Wellness Core kibble, usually mixed with a frozen green beans or green peppers. They love the frozen beans in summer. And every night at 8:30 sharp you find Ekko & Kirsch focused on the fridge waiting for their nightly carrot stick. For training treats I usually use sliced dried Koegel Viennas, If I can keep my paws off them.
I am feeding Libby Solid Gold sun dancer. In the past with other dogs I have feed Wellness super 5 mix, chicken soup for the pet lovers soul and harmony farms.
@Carole What about Dad’s or kibbles and bits!!!!
Yer KILLIN me!!!
Aw Karen, we all know that Pedigree is the best ever. (If you believe that, I have a bridge for sale cheap.)
Teren eats canine caviar chicken and peal millet.
I feel primarily California Natural Lamb and Rice because it is a true All Life Stages food (have a puppy less than a year old) and is a limited ingredient diet. I believe it is made in the USA? I also rotate in Fromm, Earthborne Holistics, and Taste of the Wild. I also feed raw chicken and venison when I have it available, raw beef marrow bones, and toss in table scraps, leftovers, raw egg, cottage cheese, and plain sardines on occasion. None of my dogs have ever had allergies or any digestive problems like EPI, SIBO, etc. No picky eaters here (no food aggression either). The only supplement I use is salmon oil in the winter b/c it is so dry. Unfortunately we don’t have freezer space for raw feeding 4 dogs and I get the previously mentioned kibbles very discounted. Come opening deer, I get a lot of venison from last year to make space for new stuff, but I use most of it to make “jerky” for training treats and tracking bait since I have a harder time finding acceptable and affordable dog treats than kibble.
We feed Orijen Large Breed Puppy 80 20 Formula and Canidae Lamb Meal and Rice formula